The 2025-26 preseason slate for the Chicago Bulls has officially ended. The Bulls finished with a 3-2 record and featured five different starting lineups. While the preseason games are primarily about warming up for the regular season and dabbling with experimentation, Chicago's five-game stretch might have shown some early indications of a new era in the Windy City. The franchise's identity is unknown without its veteran leaders, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. Josh Giddey, Coby White, and Matas Buzelis are assumed to be the next potent trio vying to become the next face of the franchise. After the preseason, Buzelis looks like the most likely person to steal that role. As telling as the preseason can be, everyone knows the regular season is where players are truly evaluated.
1. Identity Will Mirror Last Spring
This team will look very similar to the product seen during the last few months of the 2024-25 regular season. Fast-paced, an onslaught of three-point attempts, and high-scoring affairs. Chicago was third in pace, sixth in points per game, and second in three-point attempts per contest. With the eighth youngest roster heading into the season, which would move up to the top three without 34-year-old Nikola Vucevic, run and gun will be the plan of attack. Josh Giddey was in the top ten in assists per game league-wide last year, and he'll likely land in a similar position this season.
Josh Giddey was BALLING post-All-Star break last season:
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) September 25, 2025
🏀 21.2 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 9.3 APG
Will he average over 7.5 assists/game this season? 🤔@camronsmith | @KCJHoop | #ByTheHorns pic.twitter.com/yVvL6QIIPf
2. Matas Buzelis Breakout Year Incoming
If the Bulls hope to be anywhere near playoff contention this season, Buzelis must reflect everything he showed in the preseason. Having added a few pounds to his frame and improved his outside shooting, his scoring ability and offensive IQ have looked miles ahead of his rookie campaign. In 23 minutes per game this preseason, he averaged 17.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per outing while shooting over 57% from the field and nearly 40% from three-point land. After the All-Star break last season, he averaged nearly 27 minutes per game and flexed around 13 points, five rebounds, and a block per contest. With increased efficiency and downhill aggression, Buzelis seems to be adding a lethal consistency to the flashes he showed in March and April of 2025.
Matas Buzelis over the last 3 games:
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 17, 2025
19 PTS — 8/13 FGM — 2/5 3PM — 25 MIN
20 PTS — 7/12 FGM — 3/7 3PM — 30 MIN
19 PTS — 6/11 FGM — 2/6 3PM — 25 MIN
Taking a leap this season. 🔥
(via @realapp_) pic.twitter.com/VZryEUha21
3. Ayo Dosunmu Is The Breakout Candidate
The under-the-radar Bull not getting nearly enough attention is Ayo Dosunmu. The preseason can only show so much, but Dosunmu looks like the next youngster to have arrived. While Giddey is getting a hefty amount of expectations that naturally come with his latest massive contract extension, and Buzelis's highlight tape has stolen the headlines, the fifth-year guard out of Illinois is worth keeping an eye on. In 23.6 minutes per preseason game, he averaged 15.3 points on a blazing 61.5% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc. With the shooting inconsistencies of Coby White, Dosunmu's downhill attacking can provide an alternate scoring option, as he has also massively improved in the playmaking department.
Ayo Dosunmu tonight vs Milwaukee:
— BullsMuse (@BullsMuse_) October 13, 2025
22 PTS (game-high)
3 REB
2 AST
8/12 FG
+/- +11 (game-high despite the loss)
He’s back 👀 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KFVFXZ9BZl
Fresh off an injury last season, entering the final year of his contract, Chicago's homegrown point guard looks to be on a new level in 2025.
Chicago's regular season will begin in less than a week. How many of the Bulls' young core can translate the electric preseason success into meaningful games and contribute to a playoff push? This season will heavily rely on a slew of unproven talents turning the page on inconsistent careers to this point.
